James Neville Mason
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James Mason appeared in over 100 films in a career spanning more than 50 years, from the wounded Belfast gunman in Odd Man Out 1947 to Rommel in The Desert Fox 1951. He was nominated for three Oscars but never won, yet his creamy velvet voice made him one of cinema’s most distinctive actors. Mason died of a heart attack in 1984 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Names, aliases, and relatives of James Mason — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
James Mason by the numbers — life, work, and family.
James Mason — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Screen debut cut after four days: James Neville Mason was born on May 15, 1909 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, to Mabel Hattersley Gaunt and John Mason. He attended Marlborough College and studied architecture at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, fellow student Alistair Cooke rejected him for an acting role, advising Mason to finish his degree and forget about acting. Mason ignored the advice and began his film career.
Odd Man Out 1947 marked Mason’s breakout, with him playing a wounded Belfast gunman. He became an international star portraying Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in The Desert Fox 1951 and its sequel The Desert Rats 1953. In 1954, he starred as Norman Maine in A Star Is Born opposite Judy Garland, winning a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Alfred Hitchcock cast him as the villain in North by Northwest 1959, a role Hitchcock had mentioned years earlier in Rope 1948. In 1962, he played Humbert Humbert in Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita. Three of his films earned Oscar Best Picture nominations: Julius Caesar 1953, Heaven Can Wait 1978, and The Verdict 1982.
Mason married twice: first to Pamela Kellino, a Yorkshire mill owner’s daughter, from 1941 to 1964; second to Australian actress Clarissa Kaye in 1971, who remained with him until his death. He had two children: daughter Portland Mason and son Morgan Mason. Morgan later married Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go’s. An avowed pacifist, Mason refused military service during World War II, causing a rift with his family. He lived in Switzerland near the Italian border in his later years. He suffered a severe heart attack in 1959.
James Mason never won an Oscar despite three nominations. His distinctive velvet voice and range made him one of Britain’s most respected actors. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and a Golden Globe in 1955. His performance in A Star Is Born 1954 remains a classic; his role in North by Northwest 1959 endures as a cinema landmark. He preserved Buster Keaton’s lost films after discovering them in his home. Comedian Eddie Izzard uses an impression of Mason in his routines. Fans remember his collaborations with Hitchcock and Kubrick, and his refusal to wear makeup or compromise his standards.
Browse the complete filmography of James Mason — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by James Mason — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from James Mason — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
How Do I Wish to Be Remembered, If at All? I Think Perhaps Just as a Fairly Desirable Sort of Character Actor.
I’m a Character Actor: the Public Never Knows What It’s Getting by Way of a Mason Performance from One Film to the Next. I Therefore Represent a Thoroughly Insecure Investment.
Having Been Fascinated by the Alan Ladd Phenomenon, I Now Had the Opportunity to Study It at Close Quarters. It Turned Out That He Had the Exquisite Coordination and Rhythm of an Athlete, Which Made It a Pleasure to Watch Him When He Was Being at All Physical.
I Loved Max Ophüls Because He Had a Very Unsuccessful Career as Far as America Was Concerned, but He Had an Irrepressible Spirit. He Was a Brave, Resilient Man and a Great Man of Theatre and He Loved His Work, He Had an Undying Enthusiasm. He Was a Lovely Man.
The Trouble with Hollywood Is That the Producers and Agents Are the Aristocrats… Which Made Actors Who Make Their Living in Hollywood Usually Feel They Are Some Sort of Scum. They Looked for Other Means of Showing off and Were Great on Rallies for Political Candidates.
To Be a Successful Film Star, as Opposed to a Successful Film Actor, You Should Settle for an Image and Polish It Forever. I Somehow Could Never Quite Bring Myself to Do That.
Though It Is Hard for Anyone Familiar with the Current Television Scene to Imagine, the Early Days of Television in the United States Were Really Exciting.
It Has Always Seemed to Me the Height of Audacity to Write an Autobiography Unless, of Course the Author Has Made a Contribution to History.
Little-known facts about James Mason — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
While remodeling his home in 1952, he discovered several reels of Buster Keaton’s lost films Mason had purchased Keaton’s Hollywood mansion and immediately recognized their historical significance and was responsible for their preservation.
He once reportedly saved the life of Max Bygraves’ son Anthony; at a party at Judy Garland’s house, Anthony fell into the pool and Mason, fully clothed, jumped in and pulled him out.
At Liza Minnelli’s request, Mason read the eulogy at Judy Garland’s funeral.
He was scheduled to play James Bond 007 in a 1958 television adaptation of From Russia with Love, which was never produced; later, despite being in his 50s, he was a contender for Bond in Dr. No 1962 before Sean Connery was cast.
He refused to wear make-up.
Eleven years after being mentioned in Rope 1948 as making an excellent villain, he was finally cast by Alfred Hitchcock as such in North by Northwest 1959.
He was responsible for getting an unknown actor from New Zealand his first major film role: that actor was Sam Neill.
He told Playboy magazine in the late 1970s that he hated rock n roll but loved country music.
He can be seen visiting the set of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining 1980 in Vivian Kubrick’s TV documentary Making The Shining 1980; Kubrick did not usually allow visitors, but made an exception for Mason, who had memorably played Humbert Humbert in Lolita 1962.
The actor thought the 1937 Janet Gaynor/Fredric March version of A Star Is Born was superior to his and Garland’s because the musical numbers detracted from the story.
Mason admitted to journalists that he had only taken a part in Mandingo 1975 because he was behind with alimony payments, leading critic Roger Ebert to reply, surely jail would have been better.
Mason lived with future wife Pamela Kellino and her husband Roy, and even after Mason married her, Kellino continued to live with them.
He was rejected by fellow student Alistair Cooke for an acting role whilst at Cambridge; Cooke asked Mason what course he was studying, and upon hearing Architecture, replied Then I think you should finish your degree and forget about acting — one of Cooke’s rare lapses of judgment.
An avowed pacifist, he refused to perform military service during World War II, a stance that caused his family to break with him for many years.
He suffered a severe heart attack in 1959.
He stated that the reason he could not find a publisher for his autobiography, Before I Forget, was because his memoir was . . . too polite.
He was the original choice to play Professor Kingsfield in The Paper Chase 1973, but had to turn down the role due to poor health; John Houseman, who had acted in only one other movie in a small role, was cast and won an Oscar.
Critic Vincent Canby said about Mason: He is, in fact, one of the very few film actors worth taking the trouble to see even when the film that encases him is so much cement.
He turned down the role of Hugo Drax in the James Bond film Moonraker 1979, which went to Michael Lonsdale.
In a January 6, 1947 Life magazine article, Mason claimed he preferred jazz and Duke Ellington to classical music, and his favorite stars were Spencer Tracy, Jean Gabin, Lena Horne, Carmen Miranda, and Veronica Lake.
Mason and wife Pamela were cat lovers and collaborated on a book on their cats.
He was offered the role of Viktor Komarovsky in Doctor Zhivago 1965 by David Lean after Marlon Brando failed to respond; Mason initially accepted, then dropped out, and Rod Steiger accepted the role.
Mason was set to make his screen debut in The Private Life of Don Juan 1934, Douglas Fairbanks’ final film, but was replaced after four days supposedly because of unsuitable casting.
He was in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: Julius Caesar 1953, Heaven Can Wait 1978, and The Verdict 1982.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard on February 8, 1960.
Following his death, he was interred at Corvey-Sur-Vevey Cemetery in Corvey-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland.
He was offered the role of Lawyer Crosby in The Cat and the Canary 1978, but the gender of the role was changed to female and played by Wendy Hiller.
He starred with his wife Clarissa Kaye-Mason in Salem’s Lot 1979 and Age of Consent 1969.
He performed in two successful Jules Verne classics: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth.
He performed the role of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in two films: first in 1951 with The Desert Fox, followed in 1953 by The Desert Rats.
Eddie Izzard often uses an impression of James Mason in his stand-up comedy routines as the voice of a confused, dithering God.
Although somehow he was never given a much-deserved knighthood, he was awarded the Golden Seal, England’s most prestigious film honor.
Mason had committed to recreating his role for the TV pilot of The Verdict, but his death caused the project to be abandoned.
He appeared in four films directed by Sidney Lumet: The Deadly Affair 1967, The Sea Gull 1968, Child’s Play 1972, and The Verdict 1982.
Born in Huddersfield, England, he spent some time living in America and then in Switzerland near the Italian border.
In June 1967, he was the second actor to be given an award by the National Film Theatre the first had been Sophia Loren in 1965 for services to the cinema.
Mason’s daughter Portland was named for comedian Fred Allen’s wife.
He has appeared in three films selected for the National Film Registry: The Tell-Tale Heart 1953, A Star Is Born 1954, and North by Northwest 1959.
His tribunal exempted him from military service during World War II only on the requirement to do non-combatant work, which he refused; his appeal became irrelevant by including him in a general exemption for film work.
He had been considered for the role of Harry Lime on The Third Man television series 1959, but Michael Rennie ended up in the role.
He was the father of Morgan Mason and actress/scriptwriter Portland Mason.
He was the grandfather of actor James Duke Mason.
James and Pamela Mason arrived in the U.S. in November 1946, but he became embroiled in a legal battle with David E. Rose, who claimed the actor had agreed to form a production company with him; after eighteen months Mason eventually won the case.
He was able to do uncanny impressions of John Gielgud and Gabriel Pascal.
James Mason is father-in-law to lead singer of the Go-Go’s, Belinda Carlisle, who married his son Morgan Mason.
Bigger Than Life 1956 was his film in more ways than one, as apart from having a leading role, he also produced it and contributed to the screenplay.
A memorial service was held for him at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden on November 1, 1984.
According to his autobiography, he was the first choice to play Norman Maine in A Star Is Born 1954 after Bogart turned down the role.
He turned down a role in I Know Where I’m Going when he was told he’d have to live rough in Scotland; the part was then given to Roger Livesey.
Although Mason’s son Morgan Mason is a film producer, he did work in the Ronald Reagan White House.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about James Mason.
Celebrities similar to James Mason — same craft, ranked by reach.
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